Coming Together
by eMu3
Summary: SR slash. my take on how they got together, and the first big test of the relationship, sirius telling snape how to get past the willow
1. Coming Together

Title: Coming Together  
  
Author: eMu  
  
Summary: Marauders era, a Yule Ball. Please read and review, I promise it's worth it!  
  
Part: 1 of 3  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Disclaimers: All the usual, I am poor and minimally gifted creatively, so I use JK's brilliant characters, and she's the one who profits off of them.  
  
Author's Notes: Like just about everything I put out, this goes along with my own little alternate universe (for I acknowledge JK would never do the things I've done with these characters) so if you're confused by little references here and there, typically it's been explained in my other ficcies.   
  
"Wow…you look amazing." Sirius whispered.   
  
Remus turned away from the mirror and faced Sirius, a faint blush forming on his cheeks, which did nothing to impair his unusual state of attractiveness. He'd been getting ready for the Yule ball. James and Peter were already waiting in the common room, and Sirius, as usual, was running late. Remus on the other hand, was nervous about wearing his new dress robes and had been attempting to get ready without anyone else seeing him.  
  
"Thanks…" He said uncomfortably, avoiding Sirius' eyes.  
  
"No, really. I mean, I never see you wear full robes. The closest is our school robes. This, it suits you really well." Sirius admired, his gaze fixed on the blushing werewolf.  
  
"You look good too." Remus said quickly.  
  
"Yeah, well that's nothing new." Sirius said confidently. He walked behind Remus and stared at their reflections. "You'll definitely have someone asking you to dance this time."  
  
"I feel so awkward. I wish they'd let us wear Muggle clothes. I feel like I'm wearing a dress." Remus said, brushing a few strands of hair out of his eyes. "And I don't think anyone's really going to notice me that much."  
  
"They will this year. Are you gonna dance with anyone?"  
  
"I doubt it. I'll probably just sit at a table and watch everyone else." Remus answered truthfully. Not being one for social gatherings, he tended to sit with Cleo, Lily and Severus during these things, listening to the three of them trash their peers.  
  
There was a brief silence. But not being one to stay silent for long, Sirius spoke up again. "Remus, can I ask you something?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"I mean something personal." Sirius' eyes roamed over their reflections. He seemed like he was looking for something. Then he came to a conclusion.  
  
"What?" Remus asked.  
  
"Are you gay?"  
  
"What?" Louder this time. Some disbelief. "Why would you ask that?"  
Sirius pulled away, stammering now. "Well, I mean you've never really, like had dates or seemed interested in girls, and I was just wondering cuz like I have some friends who are, and I could set you up with one of them, but since you're not you can just forget I said anything."  
  
"…um…er…ah…" Remus shut his mouth, paused for a minute, then decided to try to speak again. "I am."  
  
"You are?"  
  
"Yeah…I'm just, well I'm not ready to come out, so can you, like keep it a secret? I haven't told anyone outside of Lily and Cleo and Sev."  
  
"You told them before us? Your fellow Marauders? Now I'm just hurt." Sirius pouted, in a rather endearing fashion.  
  
"Come on, Peter's a religious homophobe and…I dunno. It's just not something I'm comfortable with yet." Remus said honestly. Sirius took up his former position behind Remus, looking into the mirror.  
  
"Don't worry about it. Anyone who would give you shit over it doesn't count anyway."   
  
"Yeah, except my mum's boyfriend." Remus answered bitterly. Sirius pretended like he didn't hear that part. "Anyway, who would you have set me up with?"  
  
"Oh I dunno…I don't think you know any of my gay friends." Sirius answered.  
  
"I don't think I'd make a good boyfriend anyway. I mean, a paranoid werewolf with an inferiority complex. Who would you force that onto?"  
  
"Hey, a cute paranoid werewolf with an inferiority complex. And besides, I think you're too good for any of them anyway."  
  
Remus realized how incredibly close Sirius was standing to him. He could feel Sirius' body heat even through their robes. And he also began to question the existence of these supposed gay friends.  
  
He turned around to go, when Sirius grabbed him and kissed him. He closed his eyes and leaned into Sirius' body, making a surprised but happy murmuring sound as warm lips and tongue caressed his own. Sirius released him and offered an innocent smile.  
  
"I think you'd make a good boyfriend."  
  
Remus was about to respond, but the door was opened. Sirius moved back a few paces and began to look fascinated with the state of his hair.  
  
"You guys coming or not? We're going to be late." James asked.  
  
"Yeah, we're coming." Sirius answered. He turned to Remus. "We'll have to continue this conversation later."  
  
"Okay."  
  
  
  
AT THE BALL…  
  
Remus immediately moved towards the back corner of the Great Hall where Lily, Cleo and Severus were conducting experiments with their punch and sugar packets.  
  
"Hey guys, you'll never believe-"  
  
"Ssh." Lily silenced him. She was bent over a glass of fruit punch. "Watch this." She emptied a sugar packet into the punch and it fizzed wildly, then spilled over the edge of the glass onto the table.  
  
"You three are easily amused tonight." Remus said with a smile, sitting down across from the girls.  
  
"There's not much else to do at these things. At least not with these two." Cleo answered, motioning to Lily and Severus. "They won't dance with me."  
  
"I detest dancing." Severus answered.  
  
"And if I dance with you, James will ask me to dance. And I have no intention of dancing with James." Lily answered.  
  
"Remus, you're glowing. What happened? Have you finally been deflowered?" Cleo asked.  
  
"N-no, nothing like that." Remus said, blushing again. His three friends leaned in closer. "But I came a step closer to it."  
  
"Whoo! Ooo, what happened?" Lily cheered.  
  
"Remus had his first snog, our little boy is growing up!" Cleo proclaimed.  
  
"Not quite a snog. Just a kiss." Remus said, now regretting having told them anything.  
  
"It's about bloody time. How old are you now?" Sev asked.  
  
"Sixteen. There's nothing wrong with that. I have social inabilities." Remus said.  
  
"Yeah, so do we but we've scored." Cleo said, referring to her and Severus.  
  
"With each other." Lily pointed out.  
  
"It still counts. Now you still haven't told us with who. Oh, oh Remus not Black. Not with Black." Cleo said, shaking her head.  
  
"Y-yeah." There was silence at the table as the three took that in. A look of intense loathing crossed Severus' features.  
  
"You're getting excited over kissing the man whore?" Sev asked.  
  
"Don't call him that." Remus said quietly.  
  
"Well that's what he is. Don't get all hopeful Remus. Black will sleep with anything and I'm guessing that's all he's after, and it's pretty sad he's trying that on one of his supposed friends."  
  
"Sev, ssh." Lily hissed.  
  
Remus paled. "It's not like that. I mean, he…he said-"  
  
"What. What did he say?" Severus asked. Cleo glared at him.  
  
"You don't have to tell us. It's none of our business, and Severus, keep your damn mouth shut. But Remus, he is flirtatious. Just keep that in mind." Lily said gently.   
  
"He wouldn't take advantage of me or anything. You guys don't even know him." Remus said quietly.  
  
"Okay. No one's jumping to conclusions." Cleo said. Severus opened his mouth to speak, but she kicked him in the shin so it came out as a sort of squeak. "C'mon Sev, we're dancing."  
  
"I don't dance."  
  
"Get up, we're dancing." She almost growled. He reluctantly stood and she pulled him out onto the dance floor.  
  
Lily smiled at Remus. "I'm happy for you. I mean, you still like Sirius, right?"  
  
Remus' eyes wandered to where the charismatic sixth year was mingling on the dance floor. Sirius smiled at him. Remus smiled back, turned to Lily and nodded.   
  
"Well that's good then. You should go dance with him." Lily suggested.  
  
"N-no. I can't dance with him."  
  
"Oh go ahead. No one will care. Remus, there are three other gay couples out there as we speak." Lily said.  
  
"No, there are not three other gay couples. There are friends dancing together who happen to be the same gender because they don't have dates. If anything, Lolita Pickett is asexual. She's certainly not a lesbian, and she's certainly not dating Max Smiladon." Remus said quietly.  
  
"Fine, well you shouldn't care what people think and you should dance with him."  
  
"Oh ho ho. That's rich coming from you. I'll dance with Sirius if you dance with James." Remus returned with a sly smile.  
  
"Hey, that's not fair. And that implies I have a crush on James, which I don't." Lily denied flatly.  
  
"You do. You just don't want to admit it." Remus teased.  
  
"I do not. But I'll dance with him, as friends, if it'll make you dance with your boyfriend."  
  
"He's not my boyfriend."  
  
"Yet."  
  
"Lily."  
  
"Hey Lily!" Cleo ran over, fresh from her dance with Severus, who quickly retreated to his chair looking very uncomfortable.  
  
"What?" Lily asked.  
  
"Pull out a chair, I put in a request with the band. They're gonna play it." Cleo said happily.  
  
"Play what?" Remus asked. Lily and Cleo had wicked smiles on. "Play what?"  
  
"You'll see." Lily said mysteriously.   
  
And he did see. A few minutes later the lights dimmed, excepting the ones on the centre of the floor, offering a sort of spotlight on where Lily and Cleo had pulled out two chairs. The other students gathered around the edge of the dance floor, curious about what the two Gryffinwhore freaks were doing.  
  
Lily and Cleo walked over to the chairs as the somewhat suggestive music started. It was seductively slow with a strong brass section. They straddled their chairs and sang in unison: "The minute you walked in the joint…I could see you were a man of distinction, a real big spender." This line was accompanied by a half shimmy.  
  
There were hoots and whistles from the sides. The girls were signing throatily and moving erotically in a form of very suggestive dance. There were angry glares from the teachers, who had just noticed what was going on, but it would be impossible to stop it at this point. Professor McGonagall looked livid.  
  
"Good looking, so refined, say wouldn't ya like ta know what's goin' on in mah mind…so lemme get right to the point (ba dump) I don't pop my cork for every guy I see (da-da-da-da-da-da) hey big spender! (Doot doot doot doot) Sp-e-e-e-end…a little time with me…" The two shimmied at this point and the music picked up.  
  
"Do ya wanna have fun? How about a few laughs? I could show you a (heavy breathing) good time…" There was a repeat.   
  
"They don't call 'em Gryffin-whores for nothing!" Someone shouted.  
  
"Shake it girls!" Pam Patil cheered.   
  
Cleo winked in Pam's direction, before shaking her arse at the lot. Lily pulled a small billfold of Muggle money out of her cleavage and tossed it at the now jubilant audience.  
  
"Hey big spender…hey big spender! The minute you walked in tha joint (ba dump) I could see you were a man of distinction, a real big spender…Good looking, so refined, say wouldn't you like ta know what's going on in my mind so lemme get right to the point (ba dump) I don't pop my cork for every guy I see…(da-da-da-da-da-da) Hey big spender! (Doot doot doot doot) Hey big spender! Hey big spender (doot doot doot doot) Spe-e-e-e-e-end a little ti-ime with…me-e-e-e-e-e-e-e…"  
  
The lights picked up and the music ended. Lily and Cleo threw their heads back and kicked. The assembled students erupted with cheers. Lily and Cleo took a few bows. "I hope you all liked our dance, we choreographed that ourselves and you can see more of our work on your favourite scrambled porn channel." Cleo announced, before they were pulled aside by some angry teachers.  
  
Meanwhile at the corner table, Severus and Remus were cracking up. "That has just topped whatever you guys or Tony and Edward have planned for tonight. Did you see the shade of purple Toquemada's face turned?" Sev asked, referring to their Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, a conservative God-clod.  
  
"She probably hates us Gryffindors more than ever now." Remus said with a faint smile. "I can't believe they did that. That does beat what we Marauders planned."  
  
"Which was?" Severus asked.  
  
"Eh, we only spiked the punch. I think Sirius and James are waiting for inspiration to strike. What about Paglia and Lecinq?"  
  
"I have no idea, they didn't tell me." Severus answered.  
  
A few minutes later, Cleo rejoined them. "That was fun. We lost seventy points from Gryffindor. Jamie had better make them up next Quidditch match or we'll be lynched." Cleo said pleasantly.  
  
"Seventy? Wow. Just for that little dance." Remus said.   
  
"Eh. I think they're finally cracking down. You know, sick of all the disobedience that's gone along with the prank war. I hear next year they're giving us school uniforms. It's McGonagall's thing. She thinks it'll help." Cleo said with a smirk.   
  
"Right…because we're cursing each other over our clothes." Severus said. "Where's Lily?"  
  
"She's talking to Black." Cleo said casually.  
  
"What? No, get her away from there!" Remus said in a panicked voice. He looked around until he saw Lily chatting amiably with Sirius. His back was to them, but Lily was facing them. Remus motioned to Lily to shut up and come sit down, but she only waved.  
  
********************************  
  
"Who are you waving at?"  
"Nothing. Anyway, what are your intentions as far as Remus is concerned?" Lily asked.  
  
"So he really does tell you guys everything." Sirius said, letting out a low whistle.  
  
"Yes. He does. Now spill." Lily instructed. Sirius hesitated, studying his shoe. "Look, he's really excited, and cute as it is, it's my duty to make sure you're not going to hurt him. Because if you hurt him then I get to take out your spleen. And Cleo knows how to skin someone alive with her bare hands."  
  
"Yeesh. You guys are awfully protective." Sirius yelped. "Well I don't want to hurt him. And my intentions are…well I love him."  
  
"You do?!" She squeaked, all excited. "That's great! Tell him that!"  
  
"Is he ready for that kind of commitment? I mean, he's all…virginal. And I'm all…man-whorish."   
  
"Yeah, well it's what he wants to hear. Still, I guess you should wait. Hmm. Tell him you wanna be exclusive and go over there and ask him to dance." Lily instructed.  
  
"I'll ask him to dance if you dance with Prongs."  
  
"Why does everyone want me to dance with James?" She demanded angrily.  
  
"Because you two are the perfect couple, even if he's the only one who's realized it. Besides, I have to look out for my friend." Sirius answered with an annoyingly cheerful smile. Lily scowled.  
  
"Fine. I'll dance with James."  
  
"Yes!" Sirius bounded across the dance floor to Remus' table. Lily turned and gracefully walked over to where James was standing.  
  
********************************  
  
"Black's coming over here." Cleo reported. Remus' head was buried in his hands.  
  
"What's Lily doing?" He asked.  
  
"She's walking over to Jeremy." Cleo answered.  
  
"Oh no…"  
  
"Hey Moony." Sirius greeted.  
  
"Hi." Remus answered, still with his face buried.  
  
"Um…d'ya wanna dance?"  
  
"Yes he does." Cleo answered, kicking Remus' shin. Remus jumped up and Severus pulled the chair away. Remus glared at his until very recently friends.  
  
Sirius looked uncomfortable. "Please?" He asked pitifully. Remus smiled.  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Yay!"  
  
**********************************  
  
"Uh…having fun?" Lily asked.  
  
"Sure. That was some dance you and Cleo did." James answered with a smirk. "You guys have good voices."  
  
"Thanks." Lily stared at her shoe. "Danced with many people yet?" She asked stupidly.  
  
"I suppose. Although Jezzebel's been tripping all the girls I dance with, so I think it's only safe for group dances with Pete and Padfoot."  
  
"Okay, so you wouldn't want to dance with me then." She said quickly, about to run off.  
  
"Wait, repeat that? You would dance with me?" James asked hopefully. She smiled awkwardly.  
  
"Are you asking?"  
  
"Do you want to dance with me?" James asked politely.  
  
"Sure." 'I can do this for Remus…it's a fast song. That won't be too awkward. Damn Sirius and Remus with their conditions, can't just be happy and…stuff' Lily thought angrily.  
  
Although right as James lead her onto the dance floor a slow song started. Inwardly she groaned, then put an arm around his shoulder. He tentatively wrapped his arm around her waist, and she noted approvingly that he did not let the hand roam lower. Overall he was a very considerate dancer and she was having a hard time to find anything to complain about.  
  
'His hand's not even sweaty…is he human? Wow…he looks really good up close…gah! Stop those thoughts! You do not have a crush on the arrogant jock! No! Bad Lily!' Her voice caught in her throat and she found herself staring into his eyes.   
  
MEANWHILE…  
  
  
  
Sirius steered Remus outside and into the surrounding garden area. They could still hear the music, but anyone out there wouldn't be paying attention to them anyway.  
  
"I figured if you wanted to dance, this would be a better place to do it since you don't wanna come out yet." Sirius explained. Remus smiled happily.  
  
"Thank you."   
  
They hesitated for a minute, not sure which should take the 'male' position and which should take the 'female' position, but eventually they came to an unspoken decision to just hold each other and sway. Remus rested his head on Sirius' shoulder and closed his eyes. He could feel Sirius' breath on his ear. He decided this was the closest thing to a perfect moment he'd ever had.   
  
Especially when he thought about Lily inside dancing with James.  
  
*******************************  
  
"This has got to be one of the sappiest love songs I've ever heard." Severus said disapprovingly.  
  
"I know. Come on. The lyrics are so sugar coated. And it was so obviously written just to make money with little to no emotional attachment on the part of the lyricist." Cleo agreed.  
  
The two sat in a cynical, embittered silence for a minute.   
  
"Wanna dance?" Severus asked.  
  
"Yes." Cleo answered.  
  
**********************************  
  
"That was pretty fucking good for a Yule ball." Cleo said, stumbling up the stairs to her dorm room. They'd had a bit much of the spiked punch.  
  
"Tell me abou' it. Didn't those thingsh used to shuck?" Lily asked, before falling into bed with her dress robes still on.  
  
"Did you have fun dancing with Kwu, Quidditch kid Jeremy?" Cleo asked.  
  
"Well did you have fun dancing with Sheverus? I saw you guysh during the slow song…admit it. You're dating him." Lily accused.  
  
"I am not. We're just friends with benefits. We don't believe in love 'r dating."  
  
"Yeah right."  
  
"I'll happily say I'm dating Sev if you ever say you love Jeremy." Cleo said cleverly, or cleverly for someone who was totally pissed.  
  
"I am not in love with James. He's just my friend…and he's a good dancer. And he's got pretty eyes…and warm arms." Lily trailed off, tracing patterns on her quilt with her fingers. "I bet he's got warm lips too…" She muttered.  
  
*******************************  
  
Remus peered through his bed curtains and through the window to the sky outside. The atmosphere in the dorm room was very peaceful. Everyone was asleep save him. The sky outside was clear and starry. The Sirius star shone brightly in the sky, but the new moon was invisible, even to Remus' eyes, trained at finding that familiar shadow against the sky. Everything seemed absolutely perfect.  
  
Coming soon, Part 2: Coming Apart 


	2. Coming Apart

Title: Coming Apart

Disclaimers: To the lovely but sadistic JK (If you question the sadism, read the fifth book), you own everything and get all the monies.

"So you're dating the manwhore?" Cleo asked.

"Monogamous manwhore, and will you quit calling him that?" Remus snapped.

"Ooo…we hit a nerve. Lookit, he's all defensive!" Cleo noted.

"_We_ hit a nerve? Blunt bitch." Lily muttered. "As far as I can tell, I've said nothing about Sirius' manwhoriness."

"Ah, but you just did now." Severus said with a smirk.

"Did not." Lily denied flatly.

"You really did." Cleo said.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Can I tell you three about our date or not?"

"Okay, we'll be good." Cleo said.

"Okay. We snuck into Hogsmeade and-"

"Did he behave?"

"He didn't grab your arse, did he?"

"Is he already talking about sex?"

"Will you guys back off!" Remus exclaimed. Lily, Cleo and Severus all looked guiltily at their hands. "He was fine. He instigated nothing sexual. He didn't even kiss me until we got back to the castle."

"Oh." Cleo said quietly.

Remus frowned. "You guys don't think much of him, do you?"

"No." The three said in unison.

"Well then I'll go talk excitedly about my date with Ja- no…Sirius took him, uh…Peter. See ya."

"Bye."

SKIPPY SKIPPY

"Sirius, my friends loathe you." Remus said flatly.

"You're talking about Snape and Cleo right? I know they hate me. I give them reason to." Sirius answered.

"Lily does too though."

"Really? Why?"

Remus frowned. All Lily did was insult him, and he seemed surprised and hurt by this revelation.

"Um…well they keep calling you a manwhore."

"Oh. Well I am." Sirius said. Remus raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you were just flirtatious."

"Well yeah, but I act on my flirtatiousness. You know that right? That I sleep around?" Sirius asked.

"Er…like a lot?" Remus responded. He was feeling uncomfortable. He'd always thought Sirius was joking about how he'd slept with half the school.

"Well…um…lemme see if I can get a count. Um…" He started counting on his fingers. "Nineteen."

"Nineteen?!" Remus shrieked. "You're sixteen years old and you've slept with nineteen people?"

"Girls."

"Pardon?"

"Nineteen girls. I…haven't counted the guys yet." Sirius blushed.

"How many total?" Remus asked, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

"Twenty three."

"You really are a manwhore!"

"Well yeah."

SKIPPY SKIPPY

"He really is a manwhore." Remus said hollowly. He and Lily were seated in the Gryffindor common room, attempting to do homework.

"Yes Remus. Yes he is." Lily said, trying not to be exasperated. She, Cleo and Severus had been trying to convince him of that for years.

"But he really, really is. He's slept with twenty three people." Remus said in the same, dead voice. "What if Cleo and Sev are right, and he is just after me for sex?"

Lily looked down, feeling very awkward. "I…I don't think you have to worry about that." She muttered.

"…You know something I don't. What is it?" Remus demanded.

"Well, remember how I talked to him at the Yule ball? Well he's…he's really committed. He said he loves you."

"He did?!" Remus said, a wide smile breaking out on his face. "Oh wow. Like, you think he meant it?"

"I don't know him that well, but…he seemed as, well, serious as I've ever seen him." Lily answered truthfully.

"Wow…" Remus said, looking rather stupid-happy. Lily sighed in exasperation.

"Look, I know you're retarded for him, but would you call what you feel for him love?" Lily asked pointedly.

Remus considered. He considered the way his stomach did flips whenever Sirius smiled at him, considered the way his thoughts constantly revolved around Sirius, and considered how good those warm lips had felt against his. Then he nodded eagerly, that same 'I'm head over heels' smile on his lips.

Lily grimaced. "Why do I get the feeling this relationship is doomed?"

"Because you're a pessimistic spinster." Remus suggested. "And you're not ruining this for me. I don't care what you, Cleo or Sev do, none of you are ruining this for me."

"But Remus, Sirius is-"

"Bah!" Remus yelled, cutting her off.

"Re-"

"Bah!"

"Re-"

"Bah!"

"Fi-"

"Bah!"

"I said fine!" Lily yelled.

SKIPPY SKIPPY

Sirius and James strolled down the corridor, Sirius speaking excitedly and in a hushed voice so that no one else would overhear. As Jezzebel Samsa had passed by them three times, and classes were over for the day so she wasn't headed anywhere, he got the feeling keeping his voice down was a good idea. He caught James up on everything he'd been doing since getting ready for the Yule ball and waited for James' reaction. James considered a moment. Then…

"So when were you going to tell me, your best mate, that you fancy Remus?" James asked.

"Well I just told you now didn't I?" Sirius asked irritably, waving his hand as though waving away a minor detail.

"Yes, I suppose you did." James said, frowning. "You should've told me before. I would've loved seeing you get ready before your first date. I bet it would've been amusing."

"You've seen me get ready for dates loads of times." Sirius muttered, feeling slightly annoyed.

"I wouldn't call those dates Padfoot. More like one night stands. And anyway, this was obviously different because Remus isn't glowing so you haven't deflowered him yet." James said it in a light tone, still walking, and it took him a minute to notice that Sirius had stopped walking. James stopped and turned around, an eyebrow raised.

Sirius was staring at him, something akin to hatred gleaming menacingly in his eyes. James paused and carefully considered how to react. "Sirius? Did I say something-"

"So you think I'm just some perverted manwhore who just uses anyone I feel like to, do you?" Sirius snarled.

"Well c'mon, look at your record!" James exclaimed, getting frustrated himself. "I mean, sure you've been around the school but you haven't been in anything that qualifies as a real relationship, have you?" He demanded. Sirius looked like he'd been slapped.

"Fine. So why don't you go tell Remus I'm horrible just like everyone else has been doing!" Sirius yelled, before taking off.

"Sirius don't be such an idiot!" James called after him. Scowling, he continued off in the opposite direction and walked headlong into Severus. "Watch where you're going Snivellous."

"Your wit, as usual, astounds me Potter. Where's Black, I need to have a word with him." Severus inquired. James regarded him sceptically.

"Why?"

"That's my business."

"This hasn't got anything to do with Remus, has it?" James asked. He was about to add, 'Because if it has you might want to wait a minute or two' but Severus cut him off.

"Just tell me where he is so I can get away from you, you snivelling arse."

"Find him yourself you hygiene impaired loser!" James yelled, taking off.

Severus turned a corner and glimpsed the back of Black's head as he thundered down the staircase. 'Having some sort of tantrum then.' Severus thought bitterly. He took off after Black and managed to catch his attention some ten minutes later outside by the lake. Black was walking awfully fast, something had upset him badly.

"What?!" He finally yelled at Severus. Severus looked taken aback, but he fixed his usual cool glare onto his face in a record time.

"I just wanted to have a chat about your involvement with Remus. If you do anything to him-"

Sirius cut him off with a false sounding laugh, waving his hands in the air. Severus backed away a few steps, staring at him with dislike but also some curiosity.

"When have I ever done anything to harm Remus? When have I ever acted as though I didn't care about his well being? WHY DOES EVERYBODY THINK I JUST WANT TO FUCK HIM AND THEN LEAVE?! DO THEY THINK I HAVE SOME SORT OF KINK ABOUT MENTALLY ABUSING PEOPLE?!"

"Well considering you past implications-"

"Oh go to hell you fucking shit! You're one to try to regulate a social situation! That's fucking rich, when was the last time you even snogged someone?!" Sirius exclaimed.

'Broom closet, half hour ago, Cleo' Severus thought quickly. "Just shut up and listen to me. Thanks to you and Potter, I don't have many friends in this school. And I know it's greatly upset you both that one of my few friends happens to be a mutual friend of yours. But understand this, I will not see any of my friends hurt. Got that? I don't care if you two think you're some kind of gods above all the other petty mortals in this school, if you hurt him in any way-"

"You know him so much better than me, do you?" Sirius asked, an eerie sort of calm settling in his voice. Severus started. That hadn't been what he'd said, but now that he'd mentioned it…

"Yes. I daresay I do. Thick as you are-"

"You know him so damn well? All his secrets? Absolutely nothing about him would surprise or frighten you in the least?" Sirius continued.

Severus was starting to feel uneasy. He'd hardly been thrilled when Remus had announced he was homosexual, but he'd taken it well, hadn't he? He couldn't imagine much else that could cause a serious threat to their friendship. "What are you getting at Black?" Severus asked, trying to interject confidence he did not feel into his voice.

"If you know him so damn well, then tonight press that knot over there on the Whomping Willow. Then we'll talk."

James ran down the lawns looking for Sirius. He could never stand being on bad terms with his best friend for very long, and was ready to do all the apologizing if that was necessary. He looked around, ready to sprint back into the castle if he didn't see Sirius on the grounds, but he finally noticed him, white faced and horror struck, ambling up the lawn, apparently looking at nothing.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere. Look, I need to talk to you before we go down to the tree with Moony and transform-" Something about the look on Sirius' face made James stop. Sirius stared at James in horror.

"J-James. Smack me. Hard. I need to be hit really hard." Sirius croaked. Far from fulfilling Sirius' request, James stared at him a moment as though concerned about his sanity.

"What's wrong?" He demanded, feeling annoyed once more. They couldn't even make up properly, no, Sirius had something else on his mind.

"James I…I…" He seemed unable to actually say it.

"What?!" James finally shouted.

"I told Snape how to get past the Willow." Sirius said hollowly. This took a moment to sink in.

"WHAT?!?!" James screamed. "Sir-How could-GAH!!!" He raced in the direction of the Willow, all thoughts of Sirius forgotten.

The sun had set completely about fifteen minutes ago, there were only faint tinges of red in the distance. And the full, shining moon loomed nastily in the darker part of the sky. James made it to the tree and into the tunnel in record time. He paused, listening, and distinctly heard footsteps.  
He took off after Severus, shouting warnings, but Severus it seemed had decided James was up to no good (although this assumption really was pretty fair to make, considering his usual treatment from James). Severus began running, and as he had a considerable lead on James, the fact that he was slower didn't really matter much. They raced the length of the tunnel, James losing breath. He'd developed a painful stitch in his side. Severus was almost to the end, when James finally managed to grab him and pull him back.

"Potter, what are you-" But Severus' question died on his lips. He heard a menacing growl coming from the end of the tunnel, and caught a flash of malicious, yet strangely familiar golden eyes. And he remembered a nickname he'd once heard Sirius use to describe Remus. "Moony." He whispered.

And then, with a forceful yank from James, they were running.  
  
A/N I decided to post this all as one story now with three chapters instead of as three separate parts. I like to think of it as a three part story though, I just thought it'd be easier to navigate this way.


	3. the consequences of impulsive behavior

The Consequences of Impulsive Behaviour

Author's Notes: This one's longer than the other two parts…er, feels a little sloppy to me, but I couldn't help myself. It's also fairly melodramatic and sappy. So…yeah. Just a friendly warning, I think this one's a little bit of a disappointment compared to the rest of the series. My, I really am making you want to read this, aren't I?

"I am going to throttle Sirius Black. What an asshole. Can you believe he did that?!" Cleo hissed angrily. Her closest female friend and fellow Gryffin-whore, Lily Evans, raised an eyebrow.

"What? What did he do this time? Did he actually transfigure Sev's nose into a banana like he's been threatening to do since second year?" Lily looked mildly amused. Then she caught the look on Cleo's face.

"Lily, honey this is serious. He broke the big rule. The big no no." Cleo paused for a minute, obviously considering how she was going to say it. Then she gave up and threw a mini-tantrum. "I can't believe no one told you yet! You're closer friends with any of them than I am!"

"Cleo, what is it? Nobody's dead, right?" Lily asked, feeling some panic.

"Well not yet." Cleo snapped.

"Cleo! You're scaring me!" Lily exclaimed. A few passing Hufflepuffs stared at them. They were heading down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Cleo shushed Lily before continuing.

"Black told Sev how to get past the Whomping Willow."

"What?" Lily whispered. "…no, h-he wouldn't. Even he's not that thick. This is some kind of stupid joke." Lily said suspiciously. Being friends with the Marauders, Tony Paglia and Edward Lecinq had gotten her used to dealing with jokes she didn't necessarily see the humour in. But granted Cleo rarely participated in those kind.

"This is for real, isn't it?" Cleo nodded. Lily stopped walking, closed her eyes and inhaled deeply three times. Then she kicked the wall and started shrieking. Cleo grabbed her and shook her, while even more students gave them weird looks.

"Someone should lock up those Muggleborns. They're fucking crazy." A fifth year whispered to her friend.

"How many people know?" Lily asked.

"The faculty…James and, well obviously Sev, Sirius and…well I assume Remus knows."

"Are they okay?" "Physically you mean? Yeah. James stopped Sev before he got himself killed but he, he saw Remus transformed. They're all bugging out, the three of them. Cuz, you know every time James saw Remus he was, well Prongs so…I guess it never registered really that Remus technically is a monster."

"Don't say that Cleo." Lily said in a low voice.

"What? It's fucking true and you all need to accept it. I've accepted it, because I'm a monster too. Last night I was a monstrously deformed cat while you were sitting in the dorm room telling Jezzy, Lydia and Pam that I was feeling sick. Okay, I'm a werecat and I can accept it and move on in life. We're not fully human and it would've been better if you goody goodies had noticed that!" And with that Cleo stomped away angrily.

Lily looked into the Great Hall. A very confused Peter Pettigrew was sitting at the Gryffindor table, the only sixth year Gryffindor boy down there. She felt almost bad for him. He was so completely out of the loop about everything. She was tempted to go talk to him, but she also wanted to see where her friends were.

Lily rushed out of the Great Hall and back up to the Gryffindor common room where she saw Sirius Black sitting with his head in his hands in a corner looking miserable, 'Rightly so' she thought bitterly.

James was halfway up the stairs banging on the door to his dorm room. "Remus you have to come out! Class starts in ten minutes. Don't you want breakfast? Come on! Unlock the door!" James yelled futilely.

"James? Cleo told me what happened. Um…is there anything I can do?" Lily asked nervously.  
James collapsed against the door. "Everything is so fucked up right now Lily…Remus locked himself in, and he did something weird, Alohomora's not working. And he hasn't said anything since he got back from the hospital wing. And Sirius…"

Lily squeezed his hand. "I'm sure it'll be alright with a little more time. Let Remus alone for awhile…he needs to cool down. And besides, we're going to be late for Transfiguration and McGonagall doesn't accept excuses, even valid ones."

James nodded weakly. He got up and started for the portrait hole. Lily lingered by the door for a minute.

"Remus, if you want to talk, I'm here for you." She walked down the stairs. The common room had pretty much cleared out, except for James and Sirius. Sirius had gotten up, and was standing by the portrait hole. James stood opposite him, white faced but angry.

"Look, I'm sorry. I don't know what made me do it, but I know it was dumb. I know you're all mad at me, and you deserve to be, but-"

James cut Sirius' apology off. "This isn't something you can charm your way out of you fucking idiot! I don't think I'll ever think of you the same way again! You said you loved Remus and you know how big an issue for him this is, and yet you tell one of his only friends how to see him during a transformation!? What is wrong with you?! I wouldn't be surprised if Remus never spoke to you again!" James yelled.

"James…come on-"

"Don't talk to me Sirius. I'm sick of dealing with you." James shoved him aside and left the room angrily. Sirius turned a depressed gaze to Lily.

"You'll get no sympathy from me on this. I'm friends with Remus and Sev, remember? I never liked you." Lily walked past him and hurried to get to class.  
  
By the next day things hadn't cooled down any. Neither Sev nor Remus were leaving their dorms, and apparently James, Sirius and Peter had had to camp out in the common room the night before. No one had told Peter what happened yet, so he just stayed quiet and out of the way. Sirius was behaving in a very odd manor: he was being quiet. He hadn't spoken to anyone since the common room the other day, and no one was speaking to him. Regret and depression rolled off him in waves, but James and Lily had both decided what he had done required some form of punishment, and they couldn't just forgive him in one day.

For his part James' reaction to the whole thing had been very subtle. He wasn't really talking about himself, just how mad he was at Sirius and how worried he was about Remus. But Lily and Cleo both noticed a shift in his usually pleasant and content mood.

"I'm worried about Sev." Cleo said bluntly while the girls headed outside for their lunch.

"I'm worried about a lot of things." Lily answered quietly.

"No, I mean I'm really worried. I wish we could get into the Slytherin dorms and see him. I mean, we've all got each other to yell at and support. You know how much he hates his roommates. I'll bet you anything he's just wallowing in all this shit, I don't even know what he's doing! And, I mean, his social problems are way worse than any of ours. We have strong friendships. He has us and he had Remus."

"He's friends with Tony and Edward and Misery and the others…" Lily pointed out.

"Please, that's not friendship. Tony and Edward use him because he makes potions they can use against the Marauders. And Misery and the others, if they knew anything about him they'd run screaming. He's only ever really opened up to you, me and Remus. He's one of the kids everyone worries about. And now he's found out one of his best friends is a monster. How well do you think he'll be able to accept that with a conservative pure blood background? He had enough trouble accepting Remus being gay." Cleo said. Lily considered.

"He was really close with Remus though. Like when we were hanging out and you and me went on our girl talk rants. The two of them would hang out, and…I guess I never really noticed the bond." Lily said quietly. "That's too bad. Their friendship was probably really good for them. And you're right about Sev's upbringing. I don't think he'll be able to overlook this one."

Three days.

Now Lily was getting really worried. But since James had been trying non-stop to get Remus to come out, she figured she should check out how Severus was doing.

Lily waited until all of the students had filed out of the dungeons and then approached professor Arey, the feminist teacher and head of Slytherin nicknamed Misery (Ms. Arey)

"Um…Misery, can I ask you a favour?" Lily asked.

"You can try. What is it?" Misery asked, trying to scrape the crusts of a failed first year's attempt at a basic healing potion off of a lab bench.

"Well…I'm not sure if you know about what happened a few nights ago, during the last full moon-"

"Every teacher in this castle knows about it sweetheart." Misery responded.

"Yeah, well I've been worrying about Severus. I mean, he hasn't come out of his room. At any rate, Cleo and I haven't seen him and I know he would, like talk to us."

Misery considered. "I've been worrying about him too. He really didn't need that to happen. And you know, Dumbledore hasn't done anything official about it yet? He keeps saying the boys all need some time to cool down, then he's gonna call them all to his office and mediate things."

"…but by that logic, Severus could leak to all of Slytherin about Remus' secret. That's not very safe." Lily responded.

"But you know he wouldn't do that." Misery said with a half hearted smile. "So what is it you want? Access to the Slytherin sixth year male dorm?"

"Uh…yeah. Is that possible?" Lily asked hopefully.

"Technically I shouldn't…but these are very extreme circumstances and you're a good kid. Just don't leak any information to the Marauders once this settles down. Minerva would have my head if she found out I let you know how to get into the Slytherin common room."

"Shouldn't you be the one in a position to complain about the Marauders finding out? Being head of Slytherin?" Lily asked.

"Yes, but the points would be taken from Gryffindor, not Slytherin." Misery answered.

The two made their way to the Slytherin common room, chatting about idle things on the way. Misery let Lily in, and the Slytherins gathered within let out an audible gasp.

Narcissa Black narrowed her eyes as one of her least favourite people entered the room. "What is that Gryffinwhore skank doing in here?" She snapped.

"Narcissa, I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now. Boys, can you tell me where Severus is?" Misery asked.

"He's in the dorm." Thanatos Irae answered quietly.

"Yeah, he won't come out. The freak's been in there for three days now." Avery said stupidly. A few of the larger monkey Slytherins chuckled at his use of the word freak. Lily rolled her eyes and followed Misery to the dorm door.

"Severus honey? You wanna unlock this door?" Misery asked.

"Not really." Came the blunt answer.

Misery sighed. She tapped the knob with her wand, gave Lily a good luck shoulder squeeze and walked off.

Lily walked in, feeling meek and out of place. She noted quickly how much smaller the Slytherin dorm room looked than the Gryffindor dorm room. In actuality, they were the same size, but there were a lot more Slytherins than Gryffindors, so all the added beds took away from the look of the room.

Severus was laying on his back on what was presumably his bed, looking as though he was having a staring contest with the ceiling. Lily knelt down beside the bed. "Hey." "Hey." He answered quietly.

"I suppose it would be really stupid and unnecessary to ask how you're doing?" Lily said with a small smile.

"Yes it would be. Why are you here?"

"Blunt as ever. I'm worried about you. So is Cleo. We know about what happened, and…well you've been reclusive long enough. Come out and face the world. You need to talk about this. Nothing's going to get better from sitting in a dingy room staring at a ceiling." Lily said, trying to sound stern but still sounding like some demented version of a concerned parent.

Severus rolled onto his side, facing away from her. "I know that. But it's so much easier to hide from it all. Have you ever seen him?"

"Seen…seen Remus? While he was transformed?" Lily clarified. Severus nodded. "No…I mean, it's not safe to as a human."

"Exactly. And I saw, as a human. I came very close to having my head bitten off. All because of this stupid vendetta Black has against me. I can't understand how he can hate me as much as he does, to want me to die all over a stupid prank war. And how self centred can he be? Isn't he supposed to be dating Remus? Shouldn't he have thought about his boyfriend's well being? They execute werewolves who've harmed another human being."

"I'm not here to proclaim the virtues of Sirius Black, okay? You know how I feel about him. I was as opposed to Remus dating him as you and Cleo. But I know that he doesn't hate you to that extent. He didn't want you to die. He's dense, right? He does things on a whim, without thinking. He probably thought it would be funny for a few minutes, and then realized what it was he did. Or something stupid like that. But I don't think you need to lose any sleep over him trying to kill you." Lily answered. Severus still didn't face her.

"What about Remus?" She asked.

"What about him?" Sev responded.

"Well…how do you feel about him? Do you think you two can still be friends?"

"Not the way we were." He answered honestly. "I really doubt we can at all. I just can't handle this. You three have already pushed my limits so far. I mean, it's easier for you to just accept it because you were raised in the Muggle world, so you've got a completely different perspective. I know he's a nice person and that he wouldn't intentionally hurt anyone…but I have this natural, I don't know, compelling instinct not to trust him or not to be near him."

"I guess I can understand that…even if I don't agree with it or like it. But do you think with more time? He doesn't have a lot of friends you know. And I think he just lost his boyfriend. And you saw how in love he was." Lily murmured.

"I know. And anything's possible, I guess."

"Do you feel better now?" Lily asked.

"A bit. Talking helps."

"Is there anything else you want to talk to me about?" Lily asked.

"You're impartial in all this, right?" Severus asked. "I mean, you're not going to take sides."

"Of course not. I'm friends with you, Remus and James and I'm not going to side with anyone. You get my personal counsel, without having to worry about annoying biases. And I expect similar treatment from you if I ever have a crisis." Lily said with a smile.

"You? With your charmed life." He asked, sitting up and facing her.

"It could happen." She answered. "I hope you don't mind me running off so soon, but I get the feeling I'll be lynched if I stay here much longer."

"Too true, I'll escort you out." As soon as Lily was away from the Slytherin common room, a white faced Misery ran up to her. 'Not again…' she thought miserably.

"Lily! Everything's all set with Severus now, right?" Misery asked quickly. She was already tugging Lily in the direction of a stairwell.

"Yeah, why?" Lily asked nervously.

"You need to get to the hospital wing. James is freaking out, he says he needs to talk to you."

"What happened? Is he okay, is Remus okay?" Lily said, feeling panic rise in her.

"It's Sirius. James found him in the bathroom with his wrists slashed. He'd almost finished bleeding out. Last I checked, Poppy's not sure if he's going to live."

"WHAT?!" Lily shrieked. She took off at a full run for the hospital wing, her thoughts something along the lines of 'That stupid idiot! Oh God, he'd better be okay…oh God please let him be okay!' She rushed in and stopped at the waiting room area. James was sitting on the floor in a fetal position. His glasses were on a chair next to him. He was white as chalk, tears were streaming down his cheeks and he was trembling. Lily wrapped her arms around him and he hugged her back fiercely.

Misery rushed in and sat down heavily in a chair. She wrang her hands together nervously watching the two students support each other.

"It's my fault…" James finally choked out.

"Don't say that, it's not your fault at all." Lily answered quickly.

"B-but it is! I said those things to him…oh christ Lily, he could die!" He broke out in more sobs. Lily ran a hand through his hair and stroked his back with her other hand.

"Calm down James…breathe. It's okay. He's in good hands. Pomfrey will take care of him. Don't blame yourself. You couldn't have known he would take what you said like this. It's not your fault." Lily repeated soothing words until James seemed to have a little more control over himself. He rested his head on her shoulder silently for a few minutes.

After a tense wait where time seemed like it didn't quite exist (Lily wasn't sure if they'd been there for a half hour or three days) Poppy Pomfrey came out to see them, and the sight of her blood soaked robes brought James back into hysterics. Once Lily calmed him down Poppy spoke to them.

"Well you got him here just in time. Any longer and he would've done it. He's going to have to stay here a few days, and I want him watched for the rest of the year, but he should be fine."

James let out a relieved breath, almost laughing, and let himself fall against the wall. "He's okay." He whispered.

Lily smiled shakily. "Can we talk to him?" she asked.

"He's asleep right now." Pomfrey answered.

"When will they be able to speak to him?" Misery asked.

"Come back down tomorrow, he should be a bit stronger by then." She answered quickly. She was about to turn away, but Misery stopped her.

"I don't think you have the right appreciation for what these kids have been going through you desensitised hag. Can't they come down sooner than tomorrow?"

"Listen Diane, he needs to rest." Pomfrey said, sounding irritated and insulted.

"Could I spend the night down here with him?" James asked. "I really need to tell him I don't hate him."

"It's out of the question! You have classes tomorrow. Go upstairs, I need to return to my patients." Madam Pomfrey snapped, before heading back to her patients.

James looked crestfallen, and Misery looked ripshit. "I think it's time we went and saw Albus." She said, a plotting sort of glint in her eye.

Misery led them to the gargoyle, said the password (banana cream pie) and up the stairs they went. Dumbledore was sitting in his office, trying to feed Fawkes a cracker. Fawkes nibbled at the cracker in a 'I'm doing this to make you happy' type manner, and Dumbledore stroked his head.

"Professor." Misery greeted.

"Oh hello Professor Arey. I just got a rather angry Poppy Pomfrey in my fireplace complaining about you. Seems you called her a desensitised hag."

"Yeah, well…she asked for it. But you can yell at me later if you so wish. Right now we need to talk about what we're going to do about what happened on the full moon. Your non-involvement policy didn't work out very well." She said bluntly.

"Seems to be one of the more important things I've been wrong about." Professor Dumbledore answered in a sobering tone. "Now I understand that you, Mr. Potter, wish to see Mr. Black as soon as he regains consciousness."

"Yeah. Yeah I need to tell him I don't hate him and what he did was really stupid and if he ever tries it again I'm going to bash his head against the nearest wall." James said quickly, staring at the floor.

"That's fine. I'll have Poppy send for you as soon as he's up. Now, does Mr. Lupin know yet?" Dumbledore asked. Lily, James and Misery exchanged glances.

"Um…I've been at the hospital wing." James said.

"No, I don't think anyone's told him. Oh…this won't end well at all." Misery muttered.

"I'll go talk to him…but first I'll need to know how to open the door. He did something weird to it, and none of us have been able to get it open. We tried Alohomora." Lily explained.

Dumbledore smiled. "He placed a chair under the handle. I don't think magic could help you there." Lily's jaw dropped.

"That's all he did?!" She exclaimed.

"Consider yourselves excused from classes until this is all worked out. And Diane, I'll need to speak with Mr. Snape." Lily inhaled through gritted teeth. That wouldn't be pleasant. While Dumbledore and Misery talked, she slipped out of the office with James to go and have a chat with Remus.

When they got to the common room, James was about to walk over to the door, but Lily stopped him. "Do you think you'll be able to talk about this without giving both of you a mental breakdown?" She asked.

"I…doubt it." "I figured. Go play a round of chess with Peter or something and try to calm down. I'll handle this." Lily offered.

"You really are amazing." He said reverently. Lily felt a bit of a blush coming on. 'No, bad Lily. No crushing on the popular jock, very bad for your weird smart kid reputation'.

James headed back to the common room and Lily faced the problem of the door and the chair. She knocked on the door, thinking at this point she might be able to talk to Remus out of his own free will. But he didn't respond, so she tried a few spells, but it was very hard to move an object she couldn't see. Finally, her frustration erupted in a kick to the door, that left her foot rather sore, but also seemed to loose the chair.

She opened the door and rushed in before Remus could do anything to fix it. She saw him lying on his bed, in a similar manner to the way she'd seen Severus. Except instead of fixing his gaze on the ceiling, he didn't seem to be looking at anything. He gaze was vacant and his face expressionless. He looked very tired and weak, and a mess besides. He was wearing a ratty old tee shirt and ripped jeans, and his hair was tangled, and it looked like a few strands had been pulled out. The signs of a breakdown of some sort were around the room. Some things had been thrown around and a lamp was broken. There were also thin scratches on his arms and face, they looked like they had been made by fingernails.

Lily took a deep breath, then approached him. "Remus?" She whispered softly.

He jumped, startled and wild looking. Lily swallowed some air, trying not to panic. She'd seen him do this once before. He'd ceded some control to the wolf.

"Remus…" She said again slowly. "There's something serious I need to talk to you about."

"Serious…" He repeated, his voice sounding low and menacing, not like his usual sweet self. "Sirius."

"Yes…I need to talk to you about Sirius. Um…" She was at a loss. She fervently wished Cleo was in here with her, at least she somewhat understood what this was like. Lily didn't want to admit it, but Cleo was right about this. They weren't human. They weren't a wolf and a cat either, but more something in between. And Lily didn't know how to deal with them.

Lily swallowed. "Um…h-how are you feeling about Sirius right now?" She said slowly.

Remus' face was scrunched up in consideration. His eyes flashed angrily. He jumped into a crouch position on the bed, and he did look like an animal. "Hurt." He finally croaked.

"S-Sirius hurt you…" She repeated. He nodded. "Um…are you angry at him?" He growled and she shuddered. "Moony…can I please talk to Remus? I need to talk to you Remus, I can't talk to you like this. It's really important." There was another low growl.

"Listen Remus, grow up. Sirius is hurt really badly and it's my duty to give you the details. So suck it up and control yourself." She snapped, wondering if that approach would work, or if she would be screaming for help and hoping the kids in the common room would be able to pry the angry werewolf from her jugular.

A few tense moments passed before Remus said quietly, "What happened to Sirius?" Lily breathed a sigh of relief. She sat down on the bed next to Remus and held his hand. "He's going to be fine, but…he's in the hospital wing. He tried to kill himself and he almost did it. If James hadn't found him…anyway, we're going to be contacted when we can go see him. If you want to see him, anyway." Lily watched him closely, but she couldn't read him. She couldn't read his reaction. She chewed her lip nervously.

"H-He tried to kill himself?" Remus repeated.

"Yes…" He let out a low whine, sounding more canine than human once more. Lily jumped, startled. Then she hugged him.

"W-why would he do that?" Remus whimpered. "He should've known I still care about him, I was just hurting…I would n-never want him to die!"

"It's okay…you need to go tell him these things. Everything will work out. Trust me. You'll go make up with him, so will James and we'll all forget this ever happened and never speak of it again." Remus pulled away.

"What about Sev?"

"We'll work on that later. Do I have to have a solution for everything right now?" Lily asked in a teasing manner. A thin smile formed on Remus' lips.

"I guess we are asking a bit much of you Lily."

"You have no idea."

Pomfrey (or perhaps Dumbledore) was true to her word, and as soon as Sirius had woken up, James, Remus and Lily were on their way to the hospital wing. There was an awkward moment of indecision, when the three wondered if they should see him individually or as a group, but they decided as a group.

Lily breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Sirius. He looked much better than James had described him looking. He was propped up in bed, still pale and weak, but there was a ghost of a smile on his face and his eyes were bright. He looked from Remus to Lily happily, but when his gaze travelled to James, some guilt crept into his expression. He was about to say something, when James dove forward and hugged him, surprising them all.

"You stupid, moronic-" But James didn't finish, he just hugged Sirius tighter. Sirius finally made some noises of protest and Remus and Lily pried James off of him.

"Easy there James, he's still recovering." Lily lectured gently. "Have to say I agree with James though. Stupid and moronic seem to cover it nicely."

"Consider yourself forgiven. I don't want to ever have to think about this again." James said solemnly. Sirius nodded, but his gaze shifted to Remus, who looked as though he would rather be anywhere else in the world. Much as James needed to talk to Sirius, Lily got the impression Remus needed to about a hundred times more. She squeezed James' hand and the two left the room silently.  
  
Remus sat next to Sirius, not saying anything, just looking at him. Sirius chewed his lip nervously. He opened his mouth to speak several times, but he couldn't get the right words to come, a first for him. He'd always been so good with words.

Finally, Remus spoke. "I'm sorry Sirius." This…had not been what Sirius expected at all.

"What? Why are you sorry? I'm the one who's been a prat-"

"No. I mean, you're the one who almost died, right? I should've talked to you instead of hiding. I should've, I should've faced it." Remus said, cringing. He stared at the wall just past Sirius' shoulder, unblinking.

"I'm the one who almost died? I could've just as easily gotten James and Snape killed too! Not to mention you! If you had harmed either of them, what would the Ministry have done?" Sirius asked, what little colour that had returned to his face draining. "Remus, what I did was vile…"

"I know. But I assume you have some sort of reason for it." Remus said quietly, but there was a pleading note in it.

"Just the usual. Impulsiveness, loss of temper. And Snape provoked me. He was, he was saying all this shit everybody's been saying, about how bad a boyfriend I'm gonna be and how I'm only going to hurt you. Guess I proved him right, huh?" Sirius said bitterly, looking now at his hands. He couldn't bring his gaze to Remus. He just couldn't.

Then a slender, white hand was placed over his own. He dared a glance at Remus and saw golden eyes welled with tears.

"It's okay Sirius. I forgive you." Sirius' voice trembled as he spoke next.

"I swear I'll never do anything like it again. I love you Remus."

"I love you too."

"Under no circumstances is anyone to know about why I was in the hospital wing." Sirius said gravely, once he'd returned to Gryffindor tower. He, Lily, James and Remus had spent a ridiculous amount of time waiting for the common room to clear out. Lily's distaste for this course of action was shown on her face.

"And what about Severus? Does he get to know?" She asked.

"Of course not. That's the last thing I want. It'd make his day, his bloody century. He'd love to think of me in that much pain-"

"Sirius, don't be an idiot. I know that's hard for you." Lily snapped. "Listen, we could smooth this whole situation over with Sev really easily. He's not a bad person you know. And if he hears about this he'll know you're, well, human and-"

"No. Lily, don't tell him." There was a look of panic in Sirius' eyes. He looked round at the others. "Swear to me you won't tell anybody."

"But Sirius, what are we going to say?" Remus asked. "Severus is going to want to know something."

"Tell him, tell him it was a prank." Sirius suggested.

"That's the stupidest thing he's said yet." Lily muttered.

"No, that'll work. I don't care if he hates me. I just don't want him to know how much he gets to me. It'll only make it worse. Promise me." Sirius begged.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Alright, I won't say anything."

Sirius and Remus detached from the other two marauders. Ever sine their reunion, they'd gotten quite a bit more touchy feely, in a manner that induced James to make retching noises at them and mutter things like 'You're worse than some sappy romance heroine'. Peter understood little of what was going on, considering no one had told him anything yet, so he laughed without realizing why he was laughing.

Sirius yanked Remus by the arm into an empty classroom, intent on a pre-Charms snog. Remus wanted to say something cute and flirtatious, but then his back was pressed against a desktop and he figured he didn't really need to. He ran his hands through Sirius' hair, moaning appreciatively as Sirius kissed his neck. To think, he'd almost missed out on this…

But then the door to the classroom opened, causing them both to jump. Standing in the doorway, looking shocked and betrayed, was Severus, wide eyes fixed on them. Remus' eyes met his and for a brief moment, they communicated volumes with their eyes. Remus understood that Severus thought he had assisted Sirius in the 'prank'. Severus understood that Remus would side with Sirius in anything that came up.

And both understood that their friendship was over.

END


End file.
